Remaining Within Life: Mental Suffering, Spiritual Practices, and the Ethics of Belonging
Publication information:
Abstract
When mental disorders disrupt thought, emotion, and participation in life, what is often
lost is not only health, but belonging to existence itself. Within Spiritism, mental suffering is understood as spiritual dislocation extending beyond the individual psyche, involving discarnate influence and unresolved bonds across lives. However, spiritual practices that engage this dimension, such as mediumship, disobsession, magnetism, and instrumental transcommunication, remain largely excluded from academic and clinical frameworks. This work examines the inclusion of these practices as expressions of an ethics of belonging, offering individuals a way to remain within life when mental suffering erodes meaning, dignity, and place.
Presenter Biographies
Sara and Amanda Siqueira are Brazilian twin cardiologists and postdoctoral research fellows at Harvard Medical School. Their expertise and work focus on spiritual science, Spiritism, non-local consciousness studies, exploring phenomena such as near-death experiences, after-death communication, paradoxical lucidity, and instrumental transcommunication, integrating science, spirituality, and healthcare through innovative, holistic approaches.
Samuel Andriotte is a Brazilian researcher in neuroscience and the physics of consciousness, with expertise in spiritual science, Spiritism, and electronic voice phenomena. His work integrates electronics and energy systems with empirical research on instrumental transcommunication, focusing on real-time laboratory studies of after-death communication and non-material dimensions of consciousness.
Gabriel Pádua is a Brazilian physician, expert, and researcher with interest in laboratory science and spiritual phenomena. His work integrates spiritual science, Spiritism, consciousness studies, and instrumental transcommunication, with particular attention to the role of spiritual practices in mental health, personal development, and collective responsibility for human and planetary well-being.
Maria Simon, PhD, is a German researcher in immuno-metabolic psychiatry at LMU University Hospital Munich and a licensed psychotherapist in cognitive-behavioural therapy. Her research primarily focuses on depressive disorders, although her clinical practice involves a broader diagnostic spectrum of psychiatric conditions.
Claudia Kremer is a Brazilian public prosecutor, information technology graduate, expert in Spiritism, and researcher in instrumental transcommunication. She collaborates with Samuel Andriotte evaluating specialized software he has developed. Her research focuses on the systematic documentation of visual and voice-based phenomena associated with after-death communication and non-local aspects of consciousness.
Fernando Costa is a Brazilian cardiologist, professor, researcher, and leader of international clinical trials. A Fellow of the ACC and ESC and former director at SBC and SOCESP, his work integrates cardiovascular medicine with spiritual science and consciousness studies, examining the relationship between health, spirituality, holistic care, and personal well-being.
Marcelo Maroni Saraiva is a Brazilian psychiatrist with over 20 years of clinical practice. An expert in Spiritism, his longstanding work integrates clinical psychiatry with spiritual science and consciousness studies, exploring mental phenomena that transcend conventional psychiatric models and point toward extra-physical dimensions of human experience.